Collections
by ivyflightislistening
Summary: A collection of PJO one-shots. Some shorter, some longer. Demigods, Heroes, and Mortals, Oh My! T because these one-shots vary, so who knows what the next one may hold? You're intrigued now, I can tell.
1. Birthdays

**Welcome to Ivyflightislistening's collection of **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians **_**one-shots. Hope you enjoy.**

**Birthdays-Percy has something to offer Paul, only because I feel like the poor guy gets jipped.**

_"Happy birthday to you!" _Mom and I finished, she with gusto and I didn't make much noise. Better spare Paul, if I wanted to keep him from divorcing mom. Singers as bad as I am are probably illegal. But we both clapped enthusiastically as Mr. Blofis smiled at the pair of us and blew out the candle on the small chocolate cake mom had whipped up. Just as Annabeth had a thing for lemons, Mr. Blofis had a thing for chocolate. Rachel had offered to bring him along to a Chocoholic Anonymous session, but had decided to instead donate her version of Chocolate Monopoly to the family. Apparently, she had quite a few since her father could remember that she loved chocolate, but not what she had received for her birthday the year before. This didn't exactly raise my opinion of him.

Not that I don't like chocolate, but I can hardly say I _love _it when I live with Mr. Blofis and have Rachel stopping by when in the city. Mom's mother's present, wrapped in shiny green, gleamed on the table. I swallowed.

_Gods, I hope Chiron was right_.

It wasn't much of a party, as far as parties go. We had all gone on a walk in Central Park, but Paul was an early December guy and we had come in early to thaw their toes and eat some cake before the he and mom left to see a movie nearby. But I had something to do, something important on the marker of Paul's first birthday with our family. Once we finished the cake, I stepped forward.

Paul does this funny eyebrow quirk when he knows you want to tell him something, like he's prompting you or something. So I figured now or never and hoped that this kind of thing worked.

"So." I shifted on my foot, looking at him, then back at mom, who nodded encouragingly. "Well, um, so you know how I'm a demigod?"

I never said I was a great public speaker.

Paul nodded, and from his expression I could clearly tell that he was wondering where this was going.

"Well, so, Chiron, our director at Camp, I sorta asked him how to do something, because, I guess I figured it'd be useful. To, you know, see through the Mist."

Paul's entire being had lit up just by my mentioning Chiron. "Chiron as in the hero training centaur?"

"That's one way to put it." I said. "Or pinochle played centaur."

"Chiron plays pinochle?"

"Well, he's a good trainer, too." He reassured him. "He's pretty good at both."

"Right." Paul looked completely blown away. I looked at mom again, who was still smiling, so I cleared my throat and continued.

"I explained the Mist to you a while ago, the stuff that keeps most mortals from seeing Celestial bronze, monsters, gods, those types of things. I asked Chiron how to lift it, and he said it was pretty simple. Unless I screw it up. But I just have to say a few things in Greek, but I should warn you first. Monsters are scary and you'll see some pretty weird things. But for the most part, you'll be normal and you'll see things as they really are. Mom and I just figured, seeing as she can see through the Mist already and I obviously can, it'd only be fair if we found some way to help you. So I did. Do you want to?"

Paul's usually pretty thoughtful. He thinks things through before speaking, always has a shred of insight to share, and can make you go insane as he tries to figure out his next move in Risk. Not that Risk isn't a ridiculously long game anyway, but he certainly didn't help. But he took about five seconds to look between mom and I, standing straight and tall by the stove as if he expected something thrilling to appear right in front of him.

"I don't want to trouble you, Percy," he said quickly, "Nor you, Sally. But I certainly appreciate the gesture, even if it doesn't work. It just… feels unbelievable."

"Tell me about it." I muttered, making mom laugh. "Okay. Here goes nothing."

Just like Chiron said, I led Paul out to the balcony (more natural energies, apparently) and pulled some herbs out of my Camp bag that he said cleared the mind. Then, just like in those cheesy movies with fortunetellers straight out of Scooby-Doo, I placed my fingers on the sides of his head and pushed slightly.

"Okay." I said, trying to sound confident, which was the key part of this procedure. "Close your eyes, and breathe in the herbs." Which mom was burning. Good thing nobody else was standing out on their balconies in five degree weather, otherwise I'm pretty sure that would've been the end of the Jackson-Blofis family.

Chiron had told me the chanty-spell thing would come to be, being a direct descendent of an ancient Greek, but I had made him write it down anyway. I had it in my pocket, but found Chiron was right after all. My eyes had drifted shut, and the Greek began pouring from my mouth, feeling familiar even though I had never heard the spell before in my life. It was about revealing truth, reveling in glory, understanding of darkness, the sort of philosophical things that Chiron loves so I could easily imagine him making it up, even though I knew it predated even him. Hecate had paired up with Athena to create it, goddesses of magic and wisdom, to bestow clarity on those that they wished.

I felt the words dying, and finished up, stuffed by hands in my pocket, and looked up at Paul, who was opening his eyes.

"Feel any different?" Mom asked, touching his shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding smoldering plants. Paul shook his head.

"Not really. But the Greek was really cool. Where did you learn that, Percy?"

I shrugged. "Most demigods know some. We fall into it if someone suddenly starts conversing in ancient Greek. Monsters do it sometimes."

"Which is why you're dyslexic?" Paul remembered from a conversation years ago. "Because you're hardwired to read that instead of English?"

"Bingo." I muttered, feeling a certain Greek object grow heavier in my pocket. I took Riptide out, running it over in between my fingers. I wanted to see if it had worked, if Paul could see the Celestial bronze, but was afraid that it hadn't worked, and I would've disappointed everyone.

I backed up a few steps, just in case. It isn't good not to get in the habit of just ripping a sword out around people, incase you do so while in the company of demigods and you chop off their leg when it would have gone right through a mortal's. Then I uncapped the pen.

Obviously, it worked. Paul was so surprised his eyebrows practically disappeared in his hairline, and that's receding. Mom was grinning, and I couldn't help but share her happiness, just a little.

"That's the sword you always fight with?"

"Yep." I spun it around in my hand. Habit before warming up for a battle, or just during conversation, whichever I happened to be engaging in at the time. "It's called _Anaklusmos_, or Riptide."

"Wasn't that Hercules's sword?"

I must have looked like he had shoved the sword down my throat, so he quickly backed off. Paul's pretty perceptive of when a subject is off-limits.

"Happy birthday, Paul." I tried to cover up the sticky moment. "Can we go inside now? Either my feet will fall off or the neighbors will call the cops. One of the two."

"Melodrama." Mom stage whispered, but she grinned and shuffled us inside. "More cake?"


	2. Confessions

Some one-shots of the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians _type.

I do not own anything affiliated with _Percy Jackson and the Olympians. _These are purely fan-based creations.

**Confessions-**_Note: this is an older fic, where Percy is thinking about marrying Annabeth. I prefer my other take on this, where it's spontaneous, but thought I'd share anyway. Tell me what you think!_

"Hey, dad."

Water lapped at his feet. It was cool, probably too cold for anyone who didn't have an affiliation with salt water, but he liked it. He had always liked the water, even if it wasn't from the ocean. This kind of day was one of his favorites. Sunny, but not too hot, a nice breeze, the blue waves crashing around his ankles and knees. He could feel the sand sweep out to sea from under his feet. He could stand here forever. If his mother wasn't waiting with a blue birthday cake somewhere back in the park.

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and closed it again. It took a few tries, but he eventually managed to form proper words. "I guess I should get a move on, since I'm not supposed to be gone long. I came here on a whim. You would know about that. Mom always said I was reckless because of you, and Annabeth says you're to blame for my, eh, less than superior planning skills. I usually just wing it, you know? She's actually why I'm here, you know. Annabeth, that is. Not mom. Anyway, sorry, I'm rambling." A deep breath. "You've met her a few times, I think, even if you didn't run up and shake hands." Percy Jackson stopped, taking a deep breath of ocean air_. Calm down, Percy._ He told himself. _Being a Seaweed Brain, as usual._ _Cut the crap._

"I just wanted to tell you something about her… Annabeth. Since you're my father and all, and since you're not exactly best of friends with her mom. Athena, incase you don't know or don't remember… Anyway. Well, I thought you'd want to know. I'm… I'm going to ask her to marry me, dad. I don't know when, I don't know how, all I know is that… she's basically the biggest thing in my life. I don't know what I would do without her. We, well, we practically live together anyway, and I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to come here again. Like I said, I don't know when, but I've been thinking about this and I just want to be sure you're, well, okay with this. She being a daughter of Athena, and all."

Percy was hot, despite the breeze and cool water, and he tried to brush away his nerves, thinking about everything that had led to this revelation, that he wanted Annabeth in his life forever, how it seemed now that she had been by his side forever, or at least since his first summer at Camp.

"Actually, Poseidon. Dad." Percy spoke again, now something like steel entering his tone. "I don't need your approval. I'm marrying her no matter how much you and Athena hate each other. Oh, I hope she doesn't blast me for saying that… But I thought I should tell you. And Athena? If you're listening?" He paused, unsure what for. It's not like the goddess would appear before him (he rather hoped not, in all honesty) but he figured it would give her a chance to concentrate on him. If she was even listening.

"I just want to tell you that I know you don't really approve of my feelings for Annabeth. And I bet you wish she would find someone else. Or just go Huntress." He was nervous, but his voice grew stronger as he continued. "But I want you to know that I love Annabeth, and I'll take care of her no matter what, I'll do whatever I can to keep her safe, and even if she gets over me and does find someone else or joins the Hunters, I'll always be her friend and listen when she needs it, help her out, and she'll never have to stand by herself. I don't know if this makes a difference to you, but if it helps…"

He had spoken all in one strong rush, but now that his words had left him, he was unsure of what was next. He looked up at the sky, breathed, listened to the raucous calls of gulls.

"Percy!"

Paul. Percy smiled and looked back out at the sparkling water.

"Thanks for listening." He said aloud, spinning and grabbing his sandals from their spot aside an abandoned sand castle, and then headed back towards the grassy park where his family was waiting.


End file.
